My Liche King with minor conversion and custom base and couple sprue freebies mantic gives you.
Oddly enough, I havent seen too many shots of Mantic Figures close up until I got my hands on some.The pictures on the website arent exactly the best at showing off the line, and I havent seen anyone do heads up figure comparison against GW with decent photos before- so here you go!. (disclaimer, I am sure someone "has" done it, I just havent seen it.)
The boxes I am comparing here are the GW Vampire Count Skeleton Warrior box at $24.75 USD vs Mantics Undead Liche King and Revenant Troop box listing at 14.99 GBP on the site
or 19.99 USD at the Warstore.
Let start out with the GW Skellys, First price, these guys are roughly $2.50 a piece, mine are on expense resin bases that are .75 each (not that you'd need to do that ) making a unit of twenty $65.00 and a horde unit of 40, $130.00 dollars, if I rebased on the normal bases they come with you be looking at $100 for that horde unit, the bases being $30.00
Here what you get for Mantics $20.00, The Lich Hero is $10 alone so these Revenants (elite Grave Guard in Mantics world) are $1.00 each and you get the dog and guy bursting up out of the ground for free. The Horde Regiment would cost you $40.00 vs $100.00, I should note you dont get the options without great hassle to mount Mantics figures on other bases, also the GW kit has two separate weapon options
Comparing Figure Quality. The GW model is clearly larger, and GW's over sized weapons in comparison to figures like just look weird. Both models have a great amount of detail, I like the head on the GW model a bit more, and GW shields are all removable while Mantics are cast on. There is no comparison in the shield category (GW wins hands down) but over all both figures are solid is quality and sculpt. I have to admit in last 6 months as I have moved away from GW I am finding it silly how over the top GW sculpts are, I think ostentatious is the right word. I am still a huge fan of many GW/ Citadel older models and if I go back and look at my older figures and then look at these...I am sorry the old stuff is just cooler from a low fantasy perspective..the new stuff is just too much. On Mantic's side these guys have a very cool vibe..I think roughly half the models are bit to 'fancy" to be undead...the other half are perfect..the proof will be in the paint.
This shot of the two Standard bearers is great for showing detail, I really like both figures however this particular Mantic sprue doesnt even come with a standard..thats an old glory spear pole and some bit from the bitz box. While the GW is pretty cool, again it could be dialed back a bit, I really like the trooper.
Here are the normal troopers. In this case the dynamic poses of Mantic guys wins hands down. I like the GW figs, again I think there over embelished..I think these GW skellys make better Grave Guard then alot of the VC Grave Guard do, as I find the current GG line just too ridiculous looking.
Anyway both figures are solid, unless you are committed GW tourney player, I cant see buying hordes of the GW figs, The GW figs do make excellent skirmish figures and If I need Skeletons for some other game that only needs a dozen of so figs, this is my go to Kit...but for a large format
Fantasy army game, Mantic all the way.
Mantic
Pros-
- Price, cant beat it
- Freebies, the extras are cool. good modular armor and weapon selection.
- Great low, dark Fantasy vibe.
- Scale, realistic 28mm scale with proper sized weapons.
Cons-
- Cast Shields, lack of Shield Design and options.
- Cast bases, again lack of basing options.
- Less parts means less options, posing , etc.
Games Workshop
Pros-
- Options, two distinct weapon options, with great shields and separate command options.
- Great detail
Cons-
- Price, this is one of the cheaper boxes, and you'll need at least 4 of them.
- too many parts, these guys are separate legs, chests, arms, heads, armor.., every model is almost a dozen parts- it took me way too long to just assemble five of them...its literally what scared me off the army.
- Scale, " GW only" uber scale..doesnt fit with other stuff well.
- Vibe, again -Warhammer fans only
There you go...I'll try to do a Ghoul vs Ghoul and Zombie vs Zombie when I get around to building the rest of my Mantic stuff..
Monday, August 22, 2011
GW vs Mantic - Figure Comparisons
Posted by JPL at 11:28 PM
Labels: Games Workshop, Hobby, Mantic Games
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10 comments:
Great read. I have both types of skellie in my VC army and while initally I didn't like the mantic mini's I have to say they have really grown on me.
I think their zombies are miles better than GW though.
I am a huge fan of the Mantic models, my VC army is 80% Mantic. And I love your review, it is nice to see the Mantic and GW stuff side by side.
Two things to note:
1) The do make command frames with banners and musicians
2) You said that the Revenants would make good Grave Guard, that is because they are the Mantic GG equivalent.
thanks guys
@Ivor-
I knew the Revenats where the equivalent of VC GG, I meant the GW VC Skellys make better GG than actual new Grave Guard because they are way too fancy for regular troopers. I'll clear that up thanks!
Mantic for me too. I can't quite understand how they manage to make them look so poor on their own website! One thing you might want to look into is using Lord of the Rings Army of the Dead. I notice that a lot of players base them up as spirit hosts, but I will actually be using them as Grave Guard. They are more equal in scale to the Mantic figures.
The Mantic VC & Dwarves are really nice.
Their elves are bloody terrible.
Hey I'd just like to point out the Mantic undead models are slightly bigger than the GW (but smaller than the original GW plastic skeletons which are waaay bigger). However when stacked side by side you cannot tell at all. Unlike the other ranges, they are 100% compatible with eachother. The GW sculpts are 100% superior to mantics, and it should not be a surprise at the cost. However, Mantic make a great attempt at providing you with some solid models. GW's skeletons may be superior is quality but when it comes to putting them together you begin to wonder if it was all worth it. Mantic's models fit together wonderfully. However ... when you use the mantic bodies and the GW heads and weapons etc you can create some AMAZING models, I've done it myself and am VERY happy with my GW/Mantic hybrids. Have the best of both worlds :p
You should look at Mantic's plastic/resin Black Knights, GREAT value for money and great models.
Great information. I've got both Mantic and GW skeletons, much prefer the Mantic ones.
Agreed, great read. I don't own any of the Mantic Skeletons or any of their models for that matter but I have to say that I really like the new GW Skeletons, their kits give you so much options to make your army unique compared to having fixed poses.
In closing, I couldn't agree more that the GW zombies need serious updating and with that said I like the Mantic zombies way better!
I must admit I have a soft spot for the old Citadel figures, the new ones are a bit ostentatious.
How do you feel about paints, what paints do you prefer?
I have been looking for good models that are not made from GW as of late, so this post really is topical to me. I do like to hear that they are good sculpts and that they are true 28mm miniatures. The pictures are great comparisons for me to determine which ones to use. I currently have a box of the GW Skelletons right now, however I do want to get some mantic miniatures and see what I can do with them.
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